Cherish the Peanut Week
by ourheroregina
Summary: One-shots written for Cherish the Peanut Week.
1. Chapter 1

_I know I'm six months late but when the week happened I was trying not to die in school and I really wanted to take part in such a beautiful project so here I am now! I want to say a huge thank you to wonderful lala-kate for letting me participate in this after so many months! Hope you enjoy!_! _I put Day 1 (Milestones) and Day 3 (Mother knows best) into one day!_

Regina thought that every graduation will be easier. When Henry finished school, she spent the whole ceremony crying, she even had excused herself a few times because the sobs couldn't be kept in any longer. She'd sobbed and then came back, sat down beside Robin who squeezed her hand tightly and kissed her hair, letting her know that she was not alone in this, that it was hard for him too.

When Roland finished school, she cried a little bit less though her heart was breaking as much as it did during Henry's graduation. However, she had to be the strong one then, she had to hold Robin's hand tightly and support him as much as she could because there were tears in _his_ eyes and it felt as if he was going to break down at any moment.

Regina thought it would get easier to see her children finish school and go after their dreams. She thought she would learn to see the bright side of graduation, would learn to let go. She saw how happy Henry was, how he enjoyed exploring life even if the things he did made her stomach turn from anxiety. She knew how happy Roland was in college, how he made new friends and met a girl, a girl Regina doesn't like, not yet, but there are huge chances that the girl is his soulmate.

Regina was wrong about graduations. It didn't get easier, now she knows it will never get easier. Her peanut grew up too fast, just like her other children. There is no surprise that she spent this graduation crying her eyes out, holding Robin's hand as tightly as she could, hoping that she'll not start sobbing.

It isn't a sad celebration, and these tears weren't completely from sadness. Of course, she felt sad that yet another child will leave home but it was bound to happen, but at the same time she felt happy because her beautiful beautiful girl is going to start to live a life of her own.

Regina blinks away the tears from her eyes as she stares at the mirror. She takes a tissue, wipes her cheeks and just breathes for a few moments, lets her face dry and then she fixes her make up. However, she doesn't put much mascara on for she's sure she'll cry at Granny's again.

Taking a deep breath, she looks straight into her own eyes, tells herself that it's not the first time her child finishes school. It's such a milestone in Peanut's life and Regina shouldn't ruin it with her crying.

Turning on her heel, she comes out of the bathroom and walks down the stairs to the living room where Robin's sitting with Henry and Roland, laughing at some joke. When she approaches him, he turns to look at her, a small but unsure smile forming on his lips.

"Are you okay, love?"

"Are you?" Regina returns the question.

Robin only smiles in response, takes her hand in his and squeezes. She knows he's just as emotional as she is, if not even more, but he's keeping himself together. She's sure there will be a lot of tears tonight, when the children are sleeping and there are only the two of them.

"Where's Peanut?" Regina asks, looking around the room. She's spent half an hour fixing herself, thinking about life and stuff, there's no chance Ronja hasn't changed yet.

"She needs a moment."

It seems like they all need a moment today.

Regina nods her head, tells them that she's going to see if everything's alright and walks up the stairs to Ronja's room, knocks lightly. Surprisingly, she finds the door unlocked so she walks in.

What she finds there, shocks her. The room is full of flowers (after all she has a huge family, and everyone made sure to attend the graduation) but her baby girl is sitting on the floor, holding a bouquet of green roses close to her heart.

Regina's heart breaks.

"Oh, honey," she says quietly, not wanting to startle the girl and sits down on the floor next to her.

"I'm sorry," Ronja says quickly and wipes away tears from her face, puts the roses away and stands up. She puts the flowers into a vase while Regina stands there quietly, watching as her daughter desperately tries to keep her tears at bay.

It was a surprise to everyone when Zelena showed up. Regina felt how Robin's whole body tensed but she grabbed his hand as they watched how Zelena walked up to Ronja and hugged the girl tightly. They never talked, Zelena and Ronja, the Wicked Witch abandoned the child, but still Regina could see how tears filled Peanut's eyes when Ronja saw her biological mother for the first time in her life.

"Do you want to talk about Zelena?" Regina asks, sitting down on Ronja's bed looking at the girl. She turns around slowly and there are tears in her eyes again, but she refuses to let them fall, just frowns and crosses her arms over her chest.

"I… I have never seen her, I thought she forgot about me, and she showed up and…" Ronja stops when her voice starts shaking, takes a deep breath while her eyes squeeze shut, "She cares about me, in her own way, but she does, mom."

"Of course she does," Regina nods her head, "she just didn't choose the right way to show it,"

"I hate her, I hate her so much for what she did to you, to dad but… when she hugged me, I…" she trails off, her hands falling to her sides as her chin starts to tremble.

"I know, darling," Regina assures her and stands up, walks up to her and hugs her tightly. "And it's okay to have mixed feelings. It's okay to feel confused." She tries to soothe her, holding her close to her heart. "It's okay to feel a little bit of happiness."

Ronja wants to say something but words fail her so instead she just rests her head against her mother's chest. It takes a moment but Ronja puts herself under control and then she's pulling away, smiling, thanking Regina for always being there for her.

Both of them walk down the stairs to their waiting boys and Henry and Roland fake gasps when they see their sister looking like a real princess.

"You look amazing, darling," Robin says, and Ronja only smiles, hugs her father. Then she takes Henry's stretched out hand and walks out of the house to Granny's where their family is already waiting for them to celebrate this graduation.

Robin wraps his arms around Regina, pulls her close and asks, "Is she alright?"

"She will be," Regina assures him. Robin looks uncertain for a moment but kisses her and then they follow their children to celebrate such a huge milestone.


	2. Chapter 2

_Day 2 - Daddy's girl._

Regina lifts the covers and turns to look at Ronja who's standing in front of a bookshelf, her little hands on her hips, not being able to decide what bedtime story she wants to hear tonight. It makes a smile form on Regina's face – Peanut loves stories as much as her brothers did. It runs in the family, Regina thinks happily.

Stepping up on her toes, Ronja reaches for a thick book with a worn out cover. It's a very beloved book named Harry Potter which at the time was read by Henry, then by Roland, _then_ by Robin and now it's Peanut's time to get to know the magical world of Hogwarts.

When Ronja has the book in her hands, the girl turns around and runs to the bed, smiling widely while Regina tucks her in.

It's Regina's only task, to tuck Peanut in, kiss her head and wish her sweet dreams and usually then Robin takes his place on the edge of the bed and reads a bedtime story. Ronja insists that he makes the best voices in the world and no one can read stories as good as he can.

Regina cannot remember the evening when Robin didn't read to their daughter. Even if he works overnight, he calls in the evening and he reads to her over the phone because how can daddy's girl go to sleep without a bedtime story?

However tonight Robin is tired, he had a hard day at work, has been working for more than 24 hours trying to catch some very skilled thieves. He came home, kissed Regina's cheek and told her that he'll talk to her in the morning, then walked into the living room, collapsed on the couch and fell asleep immediately.

There's no way he's going to read a story tonight.

However, when Regina takes a book from girl's hands and opens it, Ronja frowns. She sits up in bed, her blue eyes turning wide as she crosses her chubby arms over her chest and states, "Daddy reads me stories, not you, mom."

Regina smiles. She knew it won't be that easy. "Peanut, daddy's tired," she tells her. "You've seen it yourself – he's sleeping in the living room."

Ronja giggles at the memory. When Regina showed her and Roland where Robin was sleeping like a dead person, they took one of Robin's arrows and poked their father with it until Regina whisked them away, hissing that dad was tired and needed to sleep.

"Why can't he wake up, read me a story and go to sleep again?" Ronja asks, still not happy with Regina readying her a story.

"Well, tonight Daddy's extremely tired and we should let him have his deserved sleep." Regina tells her seriously. "Why don't we make a deal? Tonight I read for you and tomorrow daddy reads for you two stories instead of one! How's that?" she suggests.

"No!"

"Ron-"

"It's alright, Regina," she hears a tired and sleepy voice from behind herself and turns around to find Robin standing in the doorway, his eyes red from lack of sleep as he leans against the door frame. "It's my duty to read my princess a story, isn't it?" He asks and Ronja claps her hands happily, a huge smile forming on her lips.

"Daddy!"

"Robin, you should be sleeping," Regina argues as he walks further into the room. He must be very tired, she thinks. But he shakes his head, quits her arguing with a kiss on her lips and sits down on the other side of Ronja's bed, takes the book from Regina's hands.

"It's already late, we'll read only a few pages and go to sleep. It's alright, really. Don't worry about me, love," he tells her, giving her hand a squeeze and Regina rolls her eyes but stands up nonetheless, kisses her daughter's forehead wishing her sweet dreams, looks at Robin one more time and walks out of the room, leaving the two of them to read their story.

(…)

An hour later Robin is still not in the bedroom so Regina gets out of the bed, puts on her robe and walks to Ronja's room to check up on them. The girl was already tired, there's no chance she's still awake and Regina got curious to see where the hell Robin is.

When she reaches Ronja's room, a huge smile spreads across her face. She finds her husband and daughter sleeping peacefully in Peanut's little bed which is obviously too small for the two of them but it doesn't matter, it seems. Ronja is curled at Robin's side while he's laying on his back with his mouth opened, snoring quietly, a book of Harry Potter rested on his chest.

Regina grins, pulls the sheets over both of them, turns the lights off and leaves the room smiling.


	3. Chapter 3

_Day 4 - Life with siblings_

Peanut loved her brothers. She enjoyed playing with them hide-and-seek, loved when they read her bedtime stories. But her brothers grew up too quickly and now Henry was here very rarely while Roland refused to do anything with her because he was always grumpy, choose to read instead of play, spent most of his time in the forest with their uncles and dad (mom said it was just a phase, he was going to snap out of it, but it annoyed Ronja a lot).

Her parents tried to cheer her up in many ways, made sure that she was always busy, always had something funny to do. But still, it wasn't the same doing things alone when she knew the fun of doing things with her siblings.

However, Henry came back for a few days now and it seemed like everything was back to normal. Mom was smiling all the time, dad was more enthusiastic and Roland would leave his room, he even stopped going to the forest every day and spend more time with the family.

It was like a dream come true.

Ronja didn't want to leave Henry's side. She wanted to spend as much time as possible with him for she wasn't sure when she'll see him again. And Henry didn't mind, he gladly read her bedtime stories and told her about his journey in different realms, he even played hide-and-seek with her and although most of the time it was obvious where he was hiding, Ronja didn't mind.

She enjoyed every single moment spent with her brother.

"Henry, where are you going?" Ronja asks one day as she runs into his room with coloring books in her hands and finds him standing in front of a small mirror, fixing his hair. He's dressed casually but it's obvious that he's leaving the house.

"I'm going to meet a friend," he tells her simply, turning around to look at her. "We can color your books when I come back, alright?"

"Can I come with you?" Ronja asks, hopefully, the books all but forgotten on his bed as she stares at him with her wide blue eyes.

Henry seems to be considering her request and she makes sure to make the best puppy face ever. After a moment, Henry grins and nods his head, "Of course you can come with me. Go change, I'll wait for you downstairs."

(…)

"We shouldn't have let Ronja go with Henry," Regina says, shaking her head to herself. "We both know that sometimes she can be _too excited_ and I'm sure that Henry and Violet would have loved to talk calmly without a very active toddler calling for attention every second."

"Henry knew Ronja and he decided to take her with him anyway," Robin says as he puts the glass of wine on the coffee table in the living room and stands up from the armchair, comes to sit down beside Regina on the couch. "I don't think you should be that worried. Henry is a smart young man and if Ronja makes problems, I'm sure he'll just take her home."

Regina hums in agreement. Robin is right, she has nothing to worry about. With that thought she leans against his shoulder and closes her eyes for a moment, enjoys the loving hand that's running up and down her back in a soothing manner.

All of a sudden they hear the door being unlocked and then opened and Robin's hand stops its soothing motion while Regina opens her eyes and smiles.

"We're home!" Henry announces as the front door are closed.

It doesn't take long until Ronja runs into the living room. She immediately takes place on her father's laps, cuddling in his embrace.

"How was your evening?" Regina asks, a small smile spreading across her face as she looks at Ronja and then at Henry who's standing at the doorway and grinning.

"Mom, Henry and Violet are worse than you and Daddy!" Ronja exclaims, crossing her little hands over her chest. "They were kissing all the time!" The girl frowns as she says the words, her voice full of disgust. "I will never ever go with him somewhere again!"

Henry only shrugs in defense and Regina and Robin can only laugh.

Life with siblings is not that funny sometimes, Ronja thinks as she glares at her parents and brother before resting her head against Robin's chest and falling into a peaceful sleep.


	4. Chapter 4

_Day 5 - Friends and Extended Family_

Ronja looks over her shoulder, makes sure that no one is watching her and only then enters the familiar building. She runs up the stairs and knocks on the door quietly, her breathing a little bit labored. It doesn't take long until the huge door is opened and Ronja's greeted by a very surprised aunt Snow White.

"Ronja?" The woman gasps, surprised. "Sweetie, what are you doing here?" She asks then, her surprise turning into confusion.

It's Thursday's afternoon, Regina is most definitely working, Robin as well (David just called and told her that they've caught the bandit they've been hunting for a few weeks) and Roland is at school. Ronja should be in the kindergarten, just like Neal is.

"I ran away," the red-headed girl replies as if it's not a bit deal that a six-year-old ran away from kindergarten a second time this week.

Snow gasps. "Ronja! You know that it's not okay to disappear like that! The teachers are responsible for you and they're probably very worried just like your parents!"

Ronja doesn't seem to be very affected by Snow White's words. She's a wild child, she does magic sometimes and she jumps from the trees, and she knows how to steal very well and how to walk quietly so no one would hear you leaving.

Sighing, Snow opens the door more widely so Ronja can walk in. She closes the door behind the girl and rushes to call Regina. She quickly tells her that Ronja is safe with her and that Snow will happily take care of the girl until Regina finishes her workday. Regina thanks, tells her it will be appreciated.

Then Snow White calls Robin, tells him the same.

When she puts the phone down she turns to find Ronja sitting on a stool, and she decides that Ronja will be scolded by her parents, she doesn't need to do that as well, so as if trying to make it better Snow makes a cup of hot chocolate for her.

"Why did you run away?" Snow asks as she puts the cup in front of Ronja.

Ronja takes a sip of the chocolate and then states, "I need your help, aunt Snow." When Snow nods her head, she continues, "Mom and Dad got into a fight when I ran away from the kindergarten. Papa left home. He took his bow and arrows and went to live in the forest."

Ronja's lower lip starts trembling as tears fill her eyes. Snow immediately rushes to hug the girl, stroking her back. Now she can understand why Regina's been this grumpy these last few days, why her eyes have been red and puffy. Their family is facing a difficult time.

All of a sudden Ronja pulls away from Snow's embrace and continues to tell her story, "Roland takes me to the forest to see Papa. And he calls us every evening and I talk to him but it's not the same. And Mom's so sad. I walked to her room last night and she was crying with Papa's pillow on her hands. This is all my fault, they've fought because of me!"

"No, honey!" Snow rushes to assure the girl, there's no way she'll let a girl this young take responsibility for something like that. "It's not your fault. Parents often fight but children are never to blame for that, do you understand? It doesn't matter that they started fighting because you ran away. I can guarantee that your Papa left home for a different reason."

For a few moments Ronja just cries quietly in Snow White's embrace and when she calms down, she wipes away her tears like a big girl and looks at her aunt. "Will you help me to set a date for them? Like one from the movies with candles and chocolate and cake? Usually, in the movies, it works and couples get back together! Maybe my parents will be together again…"

"Of course, sweetheart," Snow nods her head, a small smile forming on her lips. "With the help of our family, it will definitely work." When Ronja smiles excitedly, Snow claps her hands, "Now, let's start planning!"

(…)

"Uncle Killian, what are we doing here?" Ronja asks as she lets go of Killian's hand and looks at the Jolly Roger with wide eyes.

"Your parents need a romantic date and my ship is a perfect place for that," he tells her with a wink and Ronja gasps in surprise, claps her hands happily. Hook grins in return and enters the ship with Ronja following right behind him, looking around as if she's never been here (and she's been on this ship more time than she can count).

There's a wooden table in the middle of the deck with two chairs beside it. And there's also Emma who's putting small candles all around the ship. Killian puts the bottle of champagne on the table and walks to his wife, gives her a small kiss at which Ronja narrows her eyes in disgust and then Emma turns to greet her.

"Ronja, would like to help me?" she asks and Ronja nods her head excitedly.

She hopes it will work and her parents will be together again.

(…)

"How do you know that mom will come?" Ronja asks as she looks at Granny who's putting a chocolate cake in the middle of the table.

"Ruby makes sure that your mom comes while David will drive your Papa here," Granny replies happily. When the cake is placed on the table just the way she likes, she turns to look at Ronja. "Don't worry, little girl, everything is going to be just fine and Papa will come back home" she says and Ronja beams.

"This is my biggest wish."

(…)

Ronja sits impatiently on one of the chairs in the ship. She wasn't supposed to be on this ship, everybody decided that they'll let Regina and Robin have the evening for themselves so they can talk things through and fix whatever needs fixing.

Ronja promised to stay with Snow White at home and let David and Ruby make sure that her parents talk and don't try to kill each other instead. But sitting at home was a real torture, even playing with Neal didn't seem like a fun thing to do so when Snow White went to the kitchen to make dinner, Ronja ran away.

"What are you doing here?"

"What are _you_ doing here?"

All of a sudden she hears her parents' confused voices and she opens her eyes and jumps from the chair. She rushes to them, almost falls a few times but it doesn't stop her until she's standing right in front of them.

They stare at each other but when Ronja approaches them they turn to look at her, both obviously confused. She sees that her mom's cheeks are bright red and it gets that color when she's angry and dad looks awfully sad, like always these days.

She cannot take this anymore.

"I'm sorry," Ronja says not knowing what else to say.

"Why are you sorry, peanut?" Robin asks as he kneels in front of Ronja so they're eye to eye.

"I'm sorry that I ran away from kindergarten that day. I didn't want for you to get mad and have a fight. I'm so sorry," she apologizes, tears shining in her eyes. "I promise I'll be good and won't do stupid things, but please, daddy, come home," she whispers as she stares right into Robin's eyes.

"Sweetheart,"

"I just want us to be a family again," Ronja whispers desperately looking from Robin to Regina as tears fall down her cheeks.

She closes her eyes tightly and lets her dad hug her as she cries and soon there's another hand on her back, rubbing soothing circles and kissing her head repeatedly.

When Ronja finally pulls away from Robin, she finds that he's looking straight into Regina eyes and Regina is staring back at him. There are tears in both of their eyes and when Ronja takes a step back, Robin grabs Regina's hand, pulls her closer and kisses her.

And for the first time in her life, Ronja realizes that she doesn't mind her parents kissing. She's actually very happy to see them together. She wipes away tears from her cheeks and claps her hands together, a huge smile spreading across her face.

Later that night when Ronja's sitting on Robin's laps and eating a chocolate cake with her parents, Regina takes a sip of champagne and asks, "Peanut, who helped you do set this wonderful date up?"

"Our family," she replies with her mouth full of chocolate cake.

"We have the best family then," Regina states as she stands up, walks around the table and wraps her arms around her husband and daughter.

"Indeed," Robin agrees and kisses Regina one more time.

That night Robin comes home.


	5. Chapter 5

_I started writing this piece last spring in the middle of my English class with tears in my eyes. It was supposed to be my grieving fic but I never found the courage to finish it and now that some time has passed, I finally did it!_ **_MISSING ARCHER._** _Summary - Ronja wants to know what kind of person her father was._ _Day 6 - Questions and Answers._

 **The Chance They Didn't Have**

It was a reckless thing to do – to leave her Mother back in New York and come all the way here to this mysterious town called Storybrooke to meet the aunt she's never meet before (well, she has met  
her, she just doesn't remember it because she was only a few months old) without telling anyone.

Mother will be furious. She'll be grounded for the rest of her life at best. She can forget all the parties with friends, all the fun things she was supposed to do during this summer.

But she doesn't regret it. She still thinks it was worth it. _He_ was worth it.

She came here for a reason, not to only meet an aunt who may not even talk with her. She came here for him, for her father she has no memory of.

Mother told her he was killed when she was only a few months old, killed by Mother's lover. Mother was running away from this hell, she couldn't see her sister and everyone else in that town so she took her baby and left Storybrooke, created a life on her own.

Despite the fact that Ronja had a pretty good life in New York, she felt the need to know her father. However, every time she asked Mother about him, she would change the topic or get mad, nothing in between. They've never talked about him openly.

She couldn't take it anymore. She had to know what kind of person her father was. So she took her bag, cellphone, money and left home, hoping to come back as soon as possible.

Truth be told, it's her first step trying to figure out who her biological father was.

There are days when she thinks that there's no reason to know him now. Why would she want to know someone who can't be in her life anymore? But then she looks into the mirror and sees those blue eyes which are not her mother's. If not her red hair, she would start to wonder if Mother is actually _her_ mother because they're nothing alike.

She doesn't know details about her parents life. She doesn't know how he ended up being her father when he was dating the aunt she's now going to meet.

And she wants to know; she _need_ s to know.

Pushing her wild red hair away from her face, she knocks on the door enthusiastically, though her hand is shaking from nervousness.

She doesn't know what to expect. Will her aunt want to talk with her? Will she recognize her? Does she still live here? Is she even alive?

All of a sudden the door is opened and a middle aged woman with short black hair and dark eyes appears.

"Hel-"

"Peanut!" Those dark eyes turn wide as the woman in the doorway cuts her off with a surprised gasp.

Ronja opens her mouth to disagree because the woman is wrong, she was never called peanut, but before she has a chance to do it, she's pulled into a tight hug.

When the woman pulls away, she looks embarrassed, her cheeks turning pink.

"I'm sorry," she apologizes but Ronja shakes her head. She didn't mind it. In fact, she's never been hugged like this before.

"Are you Regina Mills?" She finally asks.

"Yes," the woman nods her head and smiles a bit. "Come in"

(…)

"How did you know who I am?" Ronja asks as her aunt puts a cup of tea in front of her and sits down on the chair.

"You have his eyes" she replies and her eyes start shining with tears.

How much do you have to love someone that even eighteen years later you get emotional just thinking about them, Ronja wonders as she watches Regina shakily wrap her hands around the cup.

"What's your name?"

"You don't know my name?!" Ronja cannot hide her surprise.

Regina only smiles sadly. "After you were born, we traveled to the Underworld. A few days later Zelena took you there too. Your dad insisted that you will not have a name until we are back at home. You were safer without a name there. He called you Peanut." She swallows hard and adds, "That same day when we came back he was killed."

"Oh."

She didn't know any of this. And she supposes it's quite a shock to her to find out that she was in the Underworld and all that stuff.

Ronja was aware that she was special, that she, like her mother, did things that no one else could do. But still finding out this is shocking.

"My name is Ronja," she finally says.

"Ronja. He would've liked it," Regina nods and smiles again, this sad sad smile that makes Ronja want to cry.

But she fights her emotions. She came here with a purpose.

"I came here to find out who my father was." Ronja states then, shifting nervously on the chair. "You're the only person who can help me in this."

Regina sighs. "Of course." But she doesn't tell anything after that. She just stares at the cup of coffee in front of her as a few tears roll down her cheeks.

Ronja waits patiently, giving her aunt all the time she needs.

And then Regina starts talking. She tells her about Robin's good heart, about how much he loved forest and everything in it. She tells her about archery and thieving. She tells her about the way he looked at life and how much he treasured every single moment of it.

Regina waves her hand in the air and a box of photos appear and then she tells her more stories, about the missing year fights and how he died to protect her.

And when Regina finishes her tale, both of them are crying. Ronja is staring at Regina with tears rolling down her cheeks as Regina puts her hand over her mouth and lets out a sob.

It takes a while for them to calm down. And when Ronja speaks again, her voice is hoarse from crying, "Did he love me?"

"Of course he did!" Regina assures. "He loved you more than his life."

Ronja tries so hard to keep herself strong but tears start rolling down her cheeks and she closes her eyes, squeezes them shut as if trying to stop the tears.

"Did you see Roland again?" Ronja asks, trying to talk desperately even as the tears are running down her cheeks.

"I wanted to. But I didn't" Regina shakes her head, wiping away her tears. "I realized it was better if he moved on. Without me."

"And did _you_ move on?"

"Yes. I did. I married my old friend," she smiles through her tears and motions to the photo on the counter in which Regina is hugging a tall blonde woman. "Mal is with me now and I love her very much but I'll never forget your father. Never. No matter how much I try to really move on and don't cry every time I think about him, I just can't" she shakes her head. "I just loved him too much, I guess."

"Regina, I don't understand one thing," Ronja states, " how had I been created if you loved each other that much?"

"Your mother had some tricks of her own." Regina replies bitterly. "But it doesn't matter now. All that matters is that Robin loved you very much."

Ronja doesn't say anything then. She just stares at the cup of tea in front of her and thinks that she would've loved to meet her father.

"You could've been my daughter, peanut" After a while Regina whispers more to herself than to Ronja. "But life is such a cruel thing, my darling, and your father was taken from you, from me, from everyone."

Ronja only hums in response and stares at her hands.

Indeed.

They talk for a few more hours. They talk about Robin and Roland, about their life together and Regina cries, and Ronja does as well.

And then Ronja has to leave. Before leaving, Regina hugs her so tightly, and they cry for a little while, holding each other, sharing their pain.

When Ronja walks out of the house, she's certain that she will come back because for the first time in her life she felt at home.


	6. Chapter 6

_Day 7 - Free Day._ _A long time ago I was asked to write a one-shot where Robin finds out that peanut is not his daughter. I started writing it (but never finished) and now found it in my drafts and thought it would fit this week's free day._ _Hope you enjoyed my little stories for this amazing week (even if I participated in this project 6 or 7 months later)_

Regina doesn't believe it at first. She doesn't believe that after five years Zelena decided to show up again with a little surprise for Regina's family.

Her appearance was enough shock for Robin, at least that's what Henry said. And then the Wicked Witch told them news that shattered his life into pieces.

Ronja is not his daughter. It was all an act. All Zelena wanted to do was hurt them, she had told with a wicked laugh. She wanted to ruin Regina's happy ending. That's all.

And she succeeded, Regina thinks bitterly as she drives home.

However when she reaches home, it's already too late. Zelena is already gone as is Robin. Henry tells her that Robin left the house as soon as Zelena disappeared and he looked devastated.

Regina nods her head in understanding. She asks Henry to please, take care of Roland and Ronja while she goes out to search for her soulmate.

When Henry nods, she waves her hand in the air and disappears.

(…)

Regina curses herself quietly. She's been searching for hours and Robin is nowhere to be found.

She has no idea how he's feeling right now( Gods, she has no idea how she's feeling about all of this but she pushes all her emotions away for Robin is more important at the moment than she is) and it's one of the reasons why she wants to find him as soon as possible.

So she walks and walks and walks until she can't feel her legs anymore, but that doesn't stop her. Finding Robin seems more important than the pain in her legs.

Thankfully she's not the only one searching for Robin right now. After hours of walking through the woods and finding nothing she felt so desperate, she called Charming and asked for his help. He drove straight to the forest and now he's at the other side of it, helping Regina.

After another round of searching and finding nothing, Regina presses her back against the tree and sighs in desperation. He has to be somewhere. She just hopes that wherever he is, he's safe.

All of a sudden she hears something and pulls away from the tree immediately, her palm turning into a fist. She hears it again and it's sounds like a heavy breathing. Then she sees a shadow under one of the tree, a shadow that looks more like a stump.

How has she not seen this before?!

Hurriedly she takes a step closer, narrows her eyes so she can see better in the dark.

Her heart stops beating the moment she realizes it's Robin.

She has to stop herself from shouting his name and running straight to him. She's been with him for a long time now and learned that sometimes when he's hurt or feeling down he wants to have some space and she shall give it to him.

So Regina forces herself to walk as quietly as possible, tries to keep her breathing calm. And step after step she gets closer and closer to him, stops only a few inches away.

"Robin," she says kneeling in front of him, her heart breaking into million pieces at the sight of him.

He's sitting in the dirt, knees drawn up to his chest, his head in his hand. Regina has to take a deep breath and push her tears away.

When he doesn't look up at her, she rests her hand on his shoulder uncertainly. He startles at the contact and finally looks up at her. Even in completely darkness she can see that his eyes are red and puffy.

"Oh, Robin," she sighs as she pulls him into a hug.

For a moment he hugs her back and holds her tightly, his chin rested on her shoulder, his wet cheek touching hers. But it's only for a few seconds because then he pushes her away and tells her in a hoarse voice, "Leave me alone, Regina."

"Rob-"

"I'll be alright. Just… give me some time." He tells her, stands up on shaky legs and walks past her without looking back.

Regina doesn't follow him.

(…)

A plate drops from Regina's hands and shatters into million pieces. She curses rather loudly and kneels to collect the broken pieces.

"Mom, are you okay?" Henry asks as he runs into the kitchen still in his pajamas, his eyes wide.

"Of course. Don't worry, my little prince," she assures him but Henry gives her a knowing look and walks closer to her, helps her collect the shatters.

"It's the third plate in two days, mom," he states, and looks straight into her eyes. "Is it because of Robin?"

Regina sighs, defeated, and nods her head. It's been five days since Robin's been gone and there were no news from him. She was awfully worried, had gone to the woods a few more times just to make sure that he's alright but she couldn't find him. Ronja's been asking for daddy on a daily basis as well. She's a daddy's girl and without him she felt awfully sad. The same feeling is shared by all of their family. It's been awfully quiet in the house without Robin in it. And the worry was eating Regina from the inside but she had to keep herself under control for the sake of their children.

"He'll be alright," Henry tells her, trying to sound hopeful.

Regina only smiles sadly. She hopes he's right.

All of a sudden they hear the door opening and when Regina looks up, she finds Robin standing in the doorway. He looks a few years older, his eyes have huge bags under it and he hasn't shaved for quite some time.

He looks bad.

But it doesn't matter to Regina.

She drops all of thrcshattered pieces of the plate down to the floor and rushes to him. She wraps her arms around his neck as tears fill her eyes and he hugs her back, holds her as close as possible as she finally lets all of her emotions out.

" You're okay," she whispers more to herself than to him and looks straight into his eyes and then kisses him, pouring all of her emotions into a kiss.

Ronja and Roland run into the kitchen as well and Regina pulls away, watches as his children hug him and Ronja is crying, telling him to never leave them again between her sobs.

Henry wraps his arm around Regina's shoulder and she rests her head against his shoulder, tears filling her eyes again, as they watch Robin promising to never leave them again, to be the best dad they could ever ask for.

Later that night when the children are already asleep, Regina and Robin are sitting in the living room, glasses of whiskey in both of their hands.

"How are you feeling about all of this?"

"Conflicted," Robin admits and takes a sip of his whiskey. "But I realized one thing - it doesn't change anything. Of course, it hurts me to know that Zelena did all of this for us just for fun but Ronja is my daughter, no matter if my blood is not flowing in her veins. She's such sunshine in our lives and I love her so much. Zelena's words mean nothing to me."

"I'm glad to hear that," Regina tells him with a smile and cuddles into his side.

It's going to take some time but in the end they're going to be alright, Regina thinks as Robin kisses on top of her head and wraps his arms around her.


End file.
